Monday, February 10, 2014

Birds of South Florida, Part 1 (Myakka River State Park)

When the weather hit hard in Missouri this winter, I decided it was time to get back to Florida, for some bird photography (as well as some manatees and gators!). I have just returned from 4 weeks at some of Florida's great birding locations, and will be sharing some of the birds I photographed. With so many places visited and so many birds, it will take multiple posts to show them all (plus, I'm still downloading and editing, by the seat of my pants!).

In this post, I'll share some of the birds of Myakka River State Park (near Sarasota), which was the first stop in my travels around Florida. I first found Myakka River a few years ago and have since visited 4 times. I just love staying in one of the vintage cabins and getting up early for some wonderful nature photography!

One of the birds I always seem to find, and quite easily, in Myakka River State Park is the Red-shouldered Hawk. In this case, there were a pair of them, just outside our cabin in the park:

Another Myakka bird that I always enjoy is the prehistoric-looking Wood Stork:

Myakka River State Park also is the home to many (and I mean many!) vultures, both Black and Turkey. Most of the vultures seem to be the Black Vulture, but a few Turkey Vultures can also be found:

While photographing gators one day, I was surprised to find a single, Black-necked Stilt working the shoreline nearby:

And even had some Least Sandpipers come in close:

White Ibis were common (as they seem to be anywhere you travel in Florida!):

Limpkins were seen every day, also:

Great Egrets, also quite common, were seen every day in the park. They were especially nice to find when the wind was calm and nice reflections in the Myakka River were seen:

... and some nice opportunities were given to me by them in the sunset-colored waters of the river:

And not to be outdone, a Black-crowned Night Heron made an appearance during one of the brilliant sunset-colored evenings:

And here is a closeup of one of the several Night Herons I photographed:

Earlier I mentioned alligators. It really amazed me at the bravery (or was it stupidity?) of some of the birds as they tended to get very close to these large reptiles, as did this Great Egret and some of the vultures:

I also got to see another favorite bird in Myakka River State Park, the Roseatte Spoonbill. It is always such a delight to see this brilliantly colored bird, with it's rosy-red coloration and it's spoonbill. I will defer the spoonie images until my next post ... I got to see them much better at another location I visitied. :o)

These birds were the highlight for me during my 4 days at Myakka River State Park.

Magnificent photographs the stunning birds seen at Myakka River State Park! The hanging moss in the background makes for some especially gorgeous photographs, Jim! Love the Limpkin and elegant stilt! Viewing these marvelous images has me eager to return to the park in March. Fantastic!

I hate to show this much ignorance, but I have to ask: Do alligators ever take wading birds? Egrets casual walking right past alligator mouths (even brushing against them) is such a common site everywhere. It seems like easy eating to grab a leg and pull them down, but I can't say I've ever heard about or seen evidence of it.

Not a bad question at all, Kirby. I have not personally seen alligators take wading birds, I have seen photos of them with birds in their mouths. During my trip, I did see several alligators eating, but they all appeared to be fish that they caught and then brought to the surface to eat (I understand they cannot eat underwater). Makes you wonder if the birds have "ESP", and know when the alligators are hungry! :o)

What wonderful shots! I am down in FL now at Cape Coral and hope to make it to Ding Darling soon, but I have already seen the storks, egrets, and white ibises. so far I have seen more turkey vultures than blacks but I have no complaints. there are birds everywhere and I can so empathize with your photo processing woes!

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